After a whole day of AFK farming, [ Clear Soup Master ] logged back into the World of Disorder with great anticipation in the evening, about two hours earlier than his usual login time.
Having learned that the players had entered the city to start grinding meat, [ Clear Soup Master ] anticipated that the hunters would be released earlier today, which is why he returned to his dormitory early.
The familiar prison cell came into view again, and the surrounding tree people were also very quiet. It seemed that it was not yet time for Antiya Lisi to release the tree people.
Along with the familiar scenery appeared a character panel that had been significantly expanded with new content:
[ID: Clear Soup Master
Level: 8
Current status:
Tree Transformation:
Basic attributes: Constitution +20%, Strength +10%, Willpower -50%
Special attributes: Plant Compatibility +20%, Psionic Energy Compatibility +10%, Animal Compatibility and Mechanical Compatibility are temporarily set to zero.
Additional effect: Cannot use any plant other than the last Aberration plant; Treeman's appearance and abilities are strongly correlated with the last Aberration plant used.
Blood Corpse Transformation:
Basic attributes: Strength +10%, Agility +10%, Constitution +5%, Willpower -50%.
Special attribute: Psionic Energy Compatibility +30%, Plant Compatibility and Animal Compatibility are temporarily reset to zero.
Additional effects: Gain certain special abilities depending on the infected Blood Corpse lineage.
Beyond these dazzling numerical games, there are two very obvious indicators in the status bar.
The first sign is a large, greenish tree with an arrow pointing downwards next to it.
The other symbol is a claw with black nails, and an arrow next to it points upwards.
Upon seeing this, a phantom "?" appeared above [ Clear Soup Master's ] head.
If Tree Transformation reduces one's willpower by half, and Blood Corpse Transformation reduces it by another half, doesn't that mean my attributes are now reduced to zero?
According to the setting of the World of Disorder, if a certain basic attribute is lower than 2, it will seriously affect the player's gaming experience.
He had heard that a prankster had created a new character with a constitution of 2 but a strength of 8. As a result, he broke his arm bone while chopping down a tree. Before leveling up, he lived in constant fear, as if even a passing ant could kick him.
Once he reached level one, he added all his free attribute points to his constitution, which made him no longer as fragile as porcelain.
However, to [ Clear Soup Master's ] surprise, he discovered that although his willpower had decreased significantly, it had not yet reached zero.
But this wasn't enough to reassure him. After all, the additional effects of the two transformations on special attributes were now clearly contradictory. For example, should his Plant Compatibility be reset to zero or should it receive a percentage increase?
You can't just reset everything to zero and then get a percentage increase, can you?
He really should give the planner's family a piece of his mind.
Considering the players' practical abilities, [ Clear Soup Master ] doesn't think the game designers of the World of Disorder didn't think about this issue.
But in fact, the planners of the World of Disorder never really considered this issue.
This morning, after he stabbed the Blood Corpse's nails into his body and then logged off gracefully, Ed, far away in Valhalla, was already shocked by his actions.
He could understand using one enemy to devour another, but introducing Blood Poison to counter Antiya Lisi's control—was that something a normal human could conceive of?
Ed and Little Green immediately began to replay the events, eventually tracing the source of the Blood Corpse's fingernails. The two, one human and one tree, silently looked at each other in their consciousness.
After confirming that the source of the Blood Corpse nails was legitimate, Ed began to think about how to make the situation more interesting. The player had logged off, and the Blood Poison was beginning to erode his body.
Even if Antiya Lisi's control is incredibly powerful, his true form is still just a Middle Tier trash ( Willow's tone). But the Blood Poison of the Blood Corpse is different. Even the most ordinary Blood Corpse minions have a genuine High Tier grand duke standing behind them.
In World of Disorder, for a higher-ranking individual to influence a lower-ranking individual from a distance, both parties need to have some kind of connection.
The connection between Antiya Lisi and [ Clear Soup Master ] was the previous modification surgery. Although the archbishop was a bit weak, he had the advantage of being close to the source and was not so easy to bully.
The Grand Duke's medium is Blood Poison. Although his physical body is powerful, his power is limited due to being sealed, and he is unable to use it for the time being.
The two forces thus began to contend within [ Clear Soup Master ]'s body.
But are there really only two forces at play?
While modification and Blood Poison are deeply connected, creation is an even closer link.
Both of them clearly overlooked a small detail they were unaware of: [ Clear Soup Master ] was not a native of the World of Disorder, but a soul from another world using a body formed from flesh and blood.
So who is the true creator of this body?
Ed: Hehe.
The so-called "market maker never loses" refers to the two forces fighting fiercely within the body, unaware that the creator of the body has already begun secretly manipulating things from the shadows.
The apparent evenness between the two is merely the result of someone deliberately suppressing them, preventing a decisive victory from being decided so quickly.
The reason for doing this is simple: although the influence is unconscious, Ed knows that if one side is completely defeated, it will definitely attract the attention of the owner of that power. Since the player's consciousness is not present, he needs to keep the balance of power between the two sides.
The last time Ed did something like this was when he was preventing the vampire Marquis Oliver from completely infecting [ Clear Soup Master ] and [ My Buddha Ciba ] with their sanity.
It's quite a coincidence, it seems the connection between [ Clear Soup Master ] and the Blood Corpse is not shallow at all, but...
Which lineage of marquess was Oliver from?
Ignoring those minor details, Ed spent the next few hours pondering the situation and finally completed the editing of the mixed-state panel.
The current situation is that while Antiya Lisi's Tree Transformation is currently in an advantageous position, it has begun to decline.
While the Grand Duke's Blood Corpse Transformation was at a disadvantage, his overall condition was steadily improving.
Therefore, [ Clear Soup Master ] is currently more like a treant than Blood Corpse, even though black patches have appeared on some of his branches...
Upon sensing the players' arrival, Ed relinquished his power and presence, becoming a true bystander.
I've done everything I wanted to do; how I develop it now depends on what [ Clear Soup Master ] plans.
Just as [ Clear Soup Master ] was staring blankly at his interface, a deep voice suddenly echoed in his mind:
"My name is Adelaide, child. Tell me, who dares to defy the power of a Grand Duke?"
[ Clear Soup Master ] knew that the owner of the Blood Poison had come knocking, and without thinking, he said:
"Archbishop Antiya Lisi of Fir City."